THE BATTLE OF GREECE AND CRETE AN AUSTRALIAN HELLENIC CONNECTION

Transcription

1 THE BATTLE OF GREECE AND CRETE AN AUSTRALIAN HELLENIC CONNECTION BACKGROUND The Hellenic people had always been recalcitrant and reluctant boarders in their own countries under Ottoman landlords and it is no secret that freedom burned deeply in their souls. This hunger for freedom was carried on through successive generations after the wars of independence and all men of military age served for a period of two years of more under the Hellenic flag. The Hellenic Republic had therefore been fighting to keep alive its very existence and way of life along many of its land and maritime borders. THE BATTLE IN GREECE When the phony war between that of Great Britain the Nazi Germany World War II was over and the real battle lines were established, Mussolini, the Italian dictator wishing to emulate the Roman emperors embarked upon a journey of expansion by attacking weaker nations within his so called sphere of influence.

2 Ethiopia, Libya and Greece much to the chagrin of his Nazi ally in Hitler. The Hellenic response of OHI by Metaxas to Mussolini s representative on the 28 October 1940 did not come as a complete surprise to the Hellenic people. The Hellenic forces knew of the looming threat from the West and had secretly prepared for such an exigency against their Italian neighbours. A humiliated Mussolini looked towards his Nazi ally in Hitler to make things good and bring about the equilibrium necessary for further aggression in the strategy of expansion. Hitler was not amused by the antics of his brother in arms Mussolini, who strut the world stage as if he were a Roman emperor. Hitler had in fact cautioned Mussolini not to attack Greece at that time as he was in fact wooing and making overtures to the Hellenic people to bring them over to the axis side. Suffice to say, Hitler had misjudged the Greeks just like Mussolini had misjudged them when he attacked Greece in October Prior to attacking Greece, Hitler had been determined to destroy Yugoslavia militarily with support from Hungary and Bulgaria while Rumania s task was protection against Russia. Hitler wanted to use Yugoslavia as a base for Italian and Nazi German forces against Greece. Hitler also wanted Yugoslavia to be crushed so that Turkey would be frightened sufficiently to campaign against Greece later on. The decision to attack Greece through Yugoslavia meant that all the preparations against Russia had to be readjusted with additional forces being brought through Hungary from the north. The allied high command on the other hand were of the belief that by sending troops to Greece it would encourage Yugoslavia to resist and bring Turkey into the side of the Allies. A mission sent to Turkey to consider the above options did not go amiss. To safeguard his interests in Rumanian oilfields and to ensure the underbelly of the Mediterranean shelf did not become a cancer that had a potential to eat into his strategic reserves. Hitler attacked Greece from the North and thus overwhelmed the allied and Greek forces that had gathered to face the Nazi onslaught. Prior to his attack, Churchill true to his word kept his promise to the Hellenic people and sent troops into the country against the advice of his Generals who looked upon the enterprise as a waste of resources and manpower.

3 Apart from the propaganda value, Churchill had other reasons for doing so which were not available to the public at the time. Churchill had at his disposal, the secret Ultra decoding machine which had been providing the allies with vital Nazi intelligence and it was this information that Churchill used to make his decision to send troops to Greece. Churchill had an iron will and was determined to go against the advice of his generals to ensure that Greece and the Hellenic people did not feel alone in the titanic struggle against tyranny. It was not only on humanitarian or because of his pro Hellenic sympathies that Churchill made the decision as much of it was based on shoring up support in Greece against the forces that were being brought against Yugoslavia and thus leaving the Greek nation naked against the overwhelming odds that were gathering against them. Australian Nurses on Crete. Had not the allies sent troops in, the axis powers would have swallowed up the Greek nation, brought Turkey under their sway and made the axis powers an even more difficult adversary for any future battles. On reflection, it was a momentous decision that was to change the course of history and upset and delay Hitler s dream of expansion in Russia and subsequently his demise and that of the Nazi aggression in Europe. On the 20 April 1941, Australian soldiers like their ancient brother in arms, the ancient Greeks, (Spartans and Thespians) faced overwhelming odds at Thermopylae. It was on this fateful day that the Hellenic forces who had fought brilliantly against the Italians in Albania, down to their last reserves and isolated from their Hellenic brothers on the Yugoslav border in the north, surrendered. The Hellenic surrender in Albania was not an easy one to make, knowing that the pressure would then fall back onto their Australian and New Zealander allies who positioned themselves at Thermopylae. The battles in Albania were fought during the bitter cold months of winter in treacherous mountain passes against a better equipped and numerous foe. Suffice to say, the lessons learnt were not wasted as they were a model by the British Army and subsequent Allied forces for the training of troops in mountain warfare.

4 It is of interest to note that it was also the first time that an allied nation had defeated an axis power at their own doorstep. Greeks around celebrated and their status in their adopted countries was raised on a higher level. On this same day the Australians along with their New Zealand remnants of the Hellenic forces and civilians fought and checked the Nazi aggressors, inflicting much damage. From a frontal point of view the Australian, New Zealand and Hellenic forces were strong, but they also had to guard against potential attacks from Euboea, the coast road and prevent any moves against Delphi. However the odds were against them and they slowly fought a strategic withdrawal back down the road towards Athens. The Battle of Thermopylae in 1941 by Australians was across a very narrow piece of land. It was here that the Australians were addressed by the Australian commander, General Blamey, who said: I CALL UPON EVERY ANZAC TO GRIT HIS TEETH AND BE WORTHY OF HIS FATHER. This battle in 1941 emulated the 300 Spartans who died on the same spot along with their 700 Thespian brother in arms some 2400 years before. Both battles are commemorated every year by the Pallaconian Brotherhood at the War memorial of Leonidas located at Sparta Place, Brunswick, City of Moreland in Victoria, Australia. This is a tribute by Australians of Hellenic heritage to the Australians who fought at Thermopylae in On the 24 April 1941, a day before ANZAC day, the final surrender of Greece and its people to an overwhelming Nazi German might was complete and the allied forces were being evacuated to Crete for the final battle that was to change the course of the war. According to Churchill, the Greeks who were attacked in October 1940 by Italy without warning by a force twice their number; had fought a desperate struggle during against the Italians pushing them back some 50 kilometres back into Albania. The Greek Army located in the North West had neither the equipment nor the transport for any strategic rapid manoeuvres thus hindering their battle against the Nazi aggressor they faced. Many Greek soldiers chose to die to the last man rather than surrender, but in the end the overwhelming numerical forces and superior equipment forced the Greeks to surrender.

5 Churchill in his memoirs wrote that There were no recriminations on the part of the Greeks when the allies were withdrawing to Crete. The friendliness and aid which the Greeks had so faithfully shown to our troops endured nobly to the end. In fact the Greek people of Athens and many other places of evacuation were more concerned about the Australians and New Zealanders than for their own safety and gave assistance and aid at every turn. Alex Sheppard an Australian officer responsible for aiding allied soldiers during the evacuation of Greece was approached by Greeks who knew of the evacuation being secretly carried out. They said, If you have to leave your wounded behind, leave them to us and we will take care of them Alex Sheppard had faith in the Greeks and knew that he could trust them, saying later that he remembered them (Greeks) as a marvellous people Henry Jo Gullet meets Robert Menzies. During that same withdrawal to Crete and onto the final battle, another Australian soldier who eventually became an Australian politician and then ambassador to Greece, wrote after the war in his memoirs that: The Greeks always made it obvious that we were their people and that they treated us (Australian) like their own. (Henry Jo Gullet, ex soldier, Officer, Politician and ambassador said that when in Greece during WW2). In the end, the Greeks who suffered much from deprivation and starvation caused by the lack of men to work the land and the German and Italian occupation forces restricting the movement of the Greeks; Hellenic martial honour throughout the war years stood undimmed. THE BATTLE OF CRETE In Crete, the situation post evacuation was not the best and although morale amongst the Civil and military personnel was high, it was clear that the Cretan defenders lacked both weapons and material to sustain any attack for a long period of time. The lack of equipment, weapons and materials was evident even to the non military person. Those who visit Greece can appreciate its beauty of the mountains, the beaches and the friendliness of its people. However from a military point of view, Crete in 1941, due to its geography was a difficult place to defend.

6 The Hellenic people on the island of Crete had always been warlike in their personal and public lives, with customs and traditions that reached back to the Mycenaean age and the glory of the Minoans. They are natural born fighters who have always been found in the annals of Hellenic history as either famed archers, slingers of lead or of the hoplite soldier in the front of battle. Their women emulate their men in many ways and more often than not the family feuds were always rife. Although proud of their Hellenic past and origins, they prefer the name Cretan (Kritikos) as a means of striking fear into those who have heard of the islanders fame. These same Greeks (Cretans) now faced the Nazi German war machine with the same warlike ardour that they had towards their Ottoman oppressors. Suffice to say, to see a tall Hellenic Cretan, with his broad shoulders, moustache, outfitted in his national island dress, daggers tucked into his belt, pistols and rifle at his side, can chill the bones of any man. It is these same people that now faced the elite Nazi German paratroopers that were about to descend upon Crete. Downed German parachutist, killed by allied ground gunfire. From a military point of view, on the island there was a permanent British garrison of three infantry battalions, two heavy anti aircraft batteries, 24 search lights, nine part worn infantry tanks and sixteen light tanks, no modern aircraft, three light anti aircraft batteries, a coastal defence artillery. There were six New Zealand Battalions, Three Australian Battalions, (two being composite Battalions evacuated from Greece) local Greek Police, irregulars, members of the Greek Army who were mostly new enlistees, untrained and armed with whatever weapon they could get their hands on, and an assorted 30,000 personnel that had been evacuated from the Greek mainland. An additional 2000 troops were brought in from Egypt via the Mobile Naval Base defence Organization. These same troops were reorganized to defend the vital areas of Crete such as Iraklion, Chania, Suda Bay, Rethimo, and areas of undisclosed interest to the enemy such as the airfields and coastal areas. The ports and aerodromes were located n the North of Crete and thus exposed to hostile aircraft and shipping. There was great shortage of transport, good roads and food for the civilian population required to be imported in vast quantities.

7 It would be a falsification of history to say that the defenders were attacked by overwhelming odds, for clearly the Nazi German war machine that attacked Crete was numerically smaller. According to the Nazi German battle report it stated that The allied forces in Crete were about three times the strength which had been assumed, that the area had been well prepared for defence with the greatest of care That all works had been camouflaged with great skill. The failure on the part of the Nazi German high command to appreciate fully the allied forces on Crete was to cost them dearly resulting in exceptionally high and bloody losses. It is true however to say that the German forces that attacked the defenders of Crete were considered to be the elite of the German Army and that it comprised many young men who had applied to join the German parachute division as it appealed to their so called Aryan superiority. It had long been known that Goering had created and developed a large force of airborne troops capable of large scale descent from the air on an unsuspecting enemy. It was not the first time that this concept had been mooted as the Russians were the first to try out the idea by dropping thousands of their troops during exercises with many casualties being incurred. Goering however wanted his men to be an elite organization that could penetrate even the most dug in defenders. Crete was to be Goering s and Hitler s failure in underestimating the cost of victory against a nation and people determined to fight. The Allied Commander General Freyberg, knew from day one that he had a difficult task on hand and as such informed his superiors and that of his government of New Zealand of the difficulties that lay ahead. Freyberg distributed his resources where they could best inflict the most damage to the enemy and at the same time guard the civilian population who had by that time voluntarily enlisted to fight alongside the regular troops whether they were of Greek or non Greek origin. At Iraklion, there were two British and three Greek Battalions, At Suda Bay, two Australian and two Greek battalions, at Rethimo there was the 19th Australian Brigade, At Maleme airport a New Zealand Brigade with a second Brigade as support in the East. Of these units, parties of riflemen who had been evacuated from Greece were attached to bolster the strength of the units.

8 Although the Greek battalions were weak in numbers, not fully trained, lacking suitable weapons and equipment they did not shirk their duty and fought like lions defending their homeland. After Freyberg had taken precautions and evacuated as many of the sick wounded and incapacitated troops and civilians and mouths that he could ill afford to feed to Egypt, he was left with a total of 28,600 Allied troops not including the Greek Battalions, Greek Police and Greek irregulars that had voluntarily enlisted in the defence of their homeland. Despite the impressive numbers, Freyberg knew that his Achilles heel was to be the air and the Nazi German strategists knowing this used it to their advantage to ferry troops after troops into the hot zone of battle, which was to be at Maleme airport. On the 20 May 1941 the battle for Crete began. Historians are unanimous in saying that never in the annals of history had a battle, such as the attack on Crete by a large scale airborne assault ever been undertaken. Those Eagles of Nazi Germany descending from the air upon the defenders below represented the flower of Nazi German youth. They were very highly trained, devoted to their Fuehrer (Hitler with a valiant disregard for death. However many were never to live long enough to reap the military glories of their comrades once victory had been achieved. Many of the young Nazi German paratroopers were shot like ducks flying overhead, swatted like flies, blown out of the air in their air transports, bludgeoned to death by the civilian population once they hit the ground or died fighting once they had landed. It was bloody and most vicious battle that never seemed to have an ending. Never had a more ruthless and reckless attack ever been launched by the Nazi German war machine. It would seem at the time that the young paratroopers sought death out rather than disgracing themselves or that of their Fuehrer. Hand to hand fighting took place in the many ravines, gullies, houses, villages, forests and locations of military importance such as the Maleme airport, Galata, Suda Bay, Iralkion and Chania. Many acts of heroism on both sides were carried out, both sides giving no quarter and neither side giving the impression of giving up despite the odds they faced. At Rethimo and Iraklion some paratrooper descents were made on a small scale but were repulsed only later to be subjected to a horrific aerial bombardment, reducing much of the towns to rubble, forcing the defenders to fight the enemy amongst the ruins. Soon Iraklion would be facing the enemy that was landing East of the airfield and another hostile engagement would take place.

9 For reasons known only to the German high command on the ground in Crete, the attacks on Rethimo and Iraklion were switched to concentrate on the area around Suda Bay. At Maleme airport, the Nazi German paratrooper hierarchy realizing that they needed to obtain a foothold, poured in additional paratroopers at Maleme airport, fighting every inch of the way. It was seesaw battle between the New Zealanders and their Nazi German adversaries. Neither side giving any quarter, neither side flinching from his duty and neither side showing fear in the face of death and destruction. It was a battle that was to go one way or another which one can only fathom the horror that these men faced during those three bitter days of fighting one another. Suffice to say, after three days of bitter and relentless fighting, many of it being hand to hand, the weight of battle went against the gallant New Zealanders. Who after many counter attacks against their aggressive and valiant opponents withdrew to a strategic advantage point to carry on the battle further. While the battle ensued on land, the Allied navy was also in battle with Nazi German destroyers, torpedo boats and troop carrying ships. The message had gone out amongst the allied navy ships: Stick it out, keep in touch, don t let the people of Crete down and stop any seaborne invasion. The allied navy intervention against the Nazi German seaborne assault paid dividends and stopped any further troops from being sent to the aid of the Nazi German paratroopers already on the ground in Crete. However, despite the long drawn out naval battle, the allied naval commander was not to have it all his way and allied ships were lost in the absence of any air support. The air superiority over Crete by the Nazi German war machine was to tip the tide of battle towards their favour and subsequently the battle for Crete. On the 26 May 1941, Allied ships though crippled by the constant air attacks still managed to fight on valiantly in support of their comrade in arms fighting on the island of Crete. On the 27 May 1941 it was apparent to allied command that Crete could no longer be defended.

10 The defence of Chania had collapsed, Maleme airport was now a base for German operations who were swift to take advantage of their hard fought piece of territory, supplies and ammunition were low, casualties on both sides were high. According to Brigadier Keith Rossi (retired), a little known story that very few are aware of, is that the wounded had been brought into a common location and treated by both German and Allied doctors without any consideration for their status, nationality and/or side they represented. These same doctors to this day have yet to be fully acknowledged for the lives they saved on both sides. However it is a sign that even in the heat of battle one can still find a humanitarian aspect of mankind that men can put aside their differences to save their fellow man. On the fourth day of battle, Freyberg had withdrawn to form a new line of battle, a line that was to be last defence of the island before the Nazi German onslaught consolidated and overran the island defenders. However the enemy was increasing in strength around most of the defended positions and it was only a matter of time before the allied troops would be surrounded. The Australian forces of the 7th and 8th battalion along with a newly arrived fresh troop of commandos that had landed from Egypt fought a rearguard action giving enough time for many of the allied troops to be evacuated. The 2/11Battalion losing contact with Freyberg s headquarters still held their own. These gallant Australians from West Australia although completely surrounded, low on food and ammunition kept on fighting. The enemy steadily like wolves in the night closed in on the defenders at Rethimo and forced them to surrender at a deadly cost 300 of their men killed in the final battle with the Australians. Of the Australians that was captured, approximately 140 managed to escape and live amongst the Cretan people wrecking havoc amongst the Nazi German occupation. It is of interest to note that with the 2/11 was a young Ralph Honner commanded a troop of men. Ralph Honner. This same Ralph Honner was to return to Australia the following year and command of the Victorian 39th Battalion and fight the Japanese at the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. Ralph Honner in many ways emulated the actions of King Leonidas some 2400 years before. The 39th Battalion also faced a numerically superior enemy and delayed them long enough for additional reinforcements to be brought up against the onslaught of Japanese forces. The Battle of the Kokoda Track was to be Australia s finest hour and also Australia s Thermopylae.

11 At Iraklion, the German attacks increased daily until the garrison of defenders were reinforced by a force of British troops comprising the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who had fought their way in to join them. In the end after many house to house fighting and shelling of the houses the defenders were evacuated by the allied Navy just in time. Cretan Greek irregulars. Troops throughout the island had now reached the limit of their endurance, with war stocks low, food at a premium, being cut off from communicating with Freyberg s headquarters On the 29th May 1941, it was plain to see that the Battle for Crete had been lost. The battle however was to cost the Nazi German high command dearly for their reckless adventure in the Mediterranean. A venture that need not have been authorized without proper planning and without considering its effects on future projects such as Operation Barbarossa in Russia. On the 30 May 1941 a final effort was made to evacuate the remaining allied troops from Crete to Egypt. The allied Navy always at the ready, evacuated many of the troops under difficult conditions, constantly harassed by enemy shipping and aerial bombardment. Many of the troops that had received word of the evacuation were taken off the island, those that did not receive the message fought on until they were captured, killed or escaped into the mountains. The 5000 allied troops that remained on the island fighting a rear guard action to give the major force time to evacuate were given the orders to capitulate in the face of numerically superior odds. Kiwis performing the "Haka" war dance Others who managed to escape, lived amongst the gallant Cretan people, quickly learning their ways and integrating into the Cretan landscape and environment to fight the Nazi German occupiers as irregulars with their Cretan brother in arms. Of these, some were hunted down, killed or captured, others managed to escape to Egypt or to neutral Turkey and the remainder managed to evade capture and see out the war fighting the Nazi Germans on Crete.

12 During the Nazi German occupation, barbarous reprisals were carried out upon the valiant Cretan people for supporting the allied cause. Many innocent villagers were killed for merely for hiding allied soldiers or having been found with contraband that was on a restricted list. Others were massacred for living in the vicinity of irregulars fighting against the Nazi German occupiers or for having been caught providing food and shelter to the irregulars that roamed the Cretan landscape. Many of those who committed the atrocities against the Cretan civilian population during the Nazi Germ occupation have never been brought to justice. But the memories, faces and the lives of those killed have been recorded by the relatives and survivors left behind. Their memories live on and are always remembered by Greeks around the world during the commemoration of the Battle of Greece and Crete around May of each year. In the aftermath of the war, the decision by Churchill to defend Greece was debated by the military who believed that the forces used in Greece and that of the Battle of Crete did not have any major effect on Hitler s strategic plans. It is a fact that Hitler when announcing his Balkan campaign said to his generals that, Operation Barbarossa will have to be postponed up to four weeks as a result of the Balkan operations. New Zealand Troops in transit between Chania and Galatas. These changes in Hitler s plans of delaying Operation Barbarossa did not take into account the Russian winter and the climatic conditions. Suffice to say in light of remarks by Hitler and additional information that has come to light. Subsequent authors have revised their analysis and are of the belief that the decision by Churchill to send troops to Greece was a sound one. These facts along with the tenacity and commitment of the Russians compounded the odds against the Nazi German war machine and eventually were brought to a halt by the natural elements of a bitter Russian winter. The weight of evidence is clearly Churchill s favour that his decision to support the Greeks was a sound one. The Nazi German losses of their elite airborne divisions removed once and for all any threat of a parachute weapon to the Middle East operations gave Goering what one could call a costly Pyrrhic victory in Crete.

13 Cretan villagers moments before being massacred. Allied losses amounted to approximately 13,000 killed, wounded or taken prisoner along with an additional 2000 naval casualties. On the Nazi German side, 4000 graves were counted in the area around Maleme and Suda Bay, another 1000 at Rethimo and Iraklion, large unknown numbers drowned at sea whilst attempting to relieve their comrades on Crete. Those capture or killed fighting on the Greek mainland prior to the battle of Crete, amounting to a figure well in excess of 15,000 killed or wounded. The allied high command despite their secret intelligence being provided by ULTRA had underestimated the awesome power of the Nazi German Air power that had been compiled for the attack on Crete. Control of the air over Crete was essential, something that the allies lacked but not the fault of the allied air force which was located in Egypt and used for the African and Middle East campaigns. Equally important was the allied Navy which had to operate under continual threat from enemy air attacks making it practically impossible to operate during daylight. The lack of good communications on Crete meant that many of the units had no central command and control and mainly fought their battles alone without any support or coordination. This may have led to the loss of the Maleme airport which gave the Nazi German high command the foothold that so desired. In September 1945 the 2nd New Zealand Division returned to Crete to lay wreaths on the graves of their fallen comrades and to thank the Greek people for helping and sheltering their men during the Nazi German occupation. General Freyberg speaking on behalf of the allied soldiers said that he was deeply conscious of the debt owed to the Greek people for their gallantry and self sacrifice in sheltering allied soldiers. Although General Freyberg was speaking on behalf of the New Zealand government, his words also expressed those of Great Britain and Australia as well.

14 Australians and Greeks together during WW2. Today, nobody celebrates who won or lost, but lament the men and women who lost their lives on both sides during the Battle of Greece and Crete. It is no coincidence that all those who died during the Battle for Greece and Crete lie in the bosom of Greece, under a Hellenic sky, devoid of any distinguishing object that identifies friend from foe. It is, after all, the Hellenic way. Many Australian veterans returned to Greece after the war to visit the civilians who helped them and to pay homage to their mates they left behind. Australians of Hellenic origins in their wisdom, pay their respects by commemorating those that fell during the Battle of Greece and Crete. Their manner of remembrance is by attending every year the Australian Hellenic memorials dedicated to the fallen and it should not come as a surprise that in Australia the battles are enshrined on many Australian memorials, museums and shrines. TELAMON Force As a measure of respect, the Australian Government in 1991, sent to Greece a force made up of men and women who were serving in the Australian Army. With that force aptly named Telamon force, a select group of journalists accompanied them to record the journey and send back reports to the Australian people. On arrival the Greeks welcomed the Australian contingent with open arms and everywhere the Australians went they were greeted with much warmth and affection. The Australian Contingent visited many of the battle grounds throughout Greece and Crete. Telamon Force members stood guard at the cenotaphs, paid tribute to those who had fallen and paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. Paraded past the numerous memorials dedicated to the men on both sides and attended the many feasts and functions in their honour. The Australian contingent was by the largest and the most impressive to attend the 50th years Anniversary. This was not overlooked by the Greek nation and they were welcomed everywhere they went. A separated airplane was catered by a veteran group under the hospitality of an travel agent who was an Australian of Hellenic background This travel agent was responsible for the arrangements of all the veterans who had returned back to Greece and Crete as guests of the Hellenic government. These veterans were revered by a grateful Greek people and they were showered with small gifts and looked after wherever they went. Some of the veterans suffered from health related problems but were determined to return to pay their respects to the mates they left behind.

15 Australian Hellenic Memorial in Melbourne Victoria Australia. In Melbourne the various Hellenic organizations commemorate in their own manner the Battles of Greece and Crete and in doing so pay tribute to the many Australian men and women who fought gallantly during WWII. Every May throughout the years the Battle of Greece and Crete is remembered by a new generation. The young generation of Australians of Hellenic heritage, proud of their ancestry are sure to follow in the steps of their forefathers and carry on the Australian Hellenic traditions of old and ensure that those who had gone before them are not forgotten. The 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Greece and Crete along with Telamon Force is but another story yet to be told for it contains tales experienced by the author that will be of some interest to future generations. Lest We Forget. DISCLAIMER. This article is but a mere grain of text amongst the thousands of text books that have been written about the Battle of Greece and Crete and the author apologizes for having transgressed in areas where others know better in terms of the battles referred to in the article. It is not possible to describe the horrors of war, nor is it possible to highlight the decisions being made by the men on the ground during a time oh high expectations and. This article therefore skims but the surface and lightly at that in trying to bring together but a small thread of what occurred during the Battle of Greece and Crete. The author also apologizes for any errors be they of grammar or text related, that may have crept in unnoticed and will gladly make amends as required. The Voice from the Pavement - Peter Adamis is a Journalist/Commentator and writer. He is a retired Australian military serviceman and an Industry organisational & Occupational (OHS) & Training Consultant whose interests are within the parameters of domestic and international political spectrum. He is an avid blogger and contributes to domestic and international community news media outlets as well as to local and Ethnic News. He holds a Bachelor of Adult Learning & Development (Monash), Grad Dip Occupational Health & Safety, (Monash), Dip. Training & Assessment, Dip Public Administration, and Dip Frontline Management. Contact via abalinx@netspace.net.au or via Mobile: